MILWAUKEE _ At the start of a week that the St. Louis Cardinals have branded "daunting" because of all the doubleheaders smooshed into so few days, there are plenty of reasons for there to be angst about the pitching, the innings, and the recent injuries to stalwart relievers.
On Monday, the Cardinals didn't lack for pitching against the Milwaukee Brewers. They had plenty. They usually do. The roster is teeming with pitching depth.
It's the offense, the car keys to rallies, they too often misplace.
The Cardinals got seven shutout innings from Kwang Hyun Kim and six superb innings from Daniel Ponce de Leon and still searched for runs, any kind of runs, even accidental runs to back the starters. The Cardinals scored four runs in the doubleheader, two of them in extra innings with the head start of a runner at second base. That was enough to overcome a two-run Jedd Gyorko homer in Game 2 for a 3-2 victory in nine innings and a doubleheader split.
The Brewers' 2-1 victory in Game 1 came on a sacrifice fly in the eighth with all of the runs being scored in extra innings. Both games needed extra innings to be decided _ a referendum on the two teams' troubles scoring runs as much as how evenly matched they are or where they fit in the standings.
That could have gotten tighter Monday, too.
The start of a five-game, three-day set against the Brewers at Miller Park allowed the third-place Brewers (21-25) to close the gap with the second-place Cardinals (21-21). A sweep of the doubleheader by Milwaukee would have created a virtual tie for second in the division. The Cardinals overcome 15 strikeouts in the second game and a five-for-20 game with runners in scoring position to split the doubleheader.
Ponce de Leon did what he could in his cameo return to the rotation by striking out nine and pitching into the seventh inning. The only welt on his pitching line was Gyorko's two-run homer. In the bottom of the seventh, Alex Reyes pitched out of a jam to force the game into extras.
Milwaukee's Corbin Burnes, one of the finer starters in the division with a sub-1.00 WHIP and a 1.99 ERA to start Monday's game, gave the Cardinals opportunities to dent the scoreboard, and they found different ways to squander them. A single and a walk in the first inning left two runners stranded on a popup to end the inning. A leadoff single and a walk put two runners on for the middle of the order, and Burnes promptly struck out two batters to regain control of the inning and leave the runners on base.
Not even a wild pitch could grease a rally.
The moment they should have taken a 1-0 lead for sure came in the fourth inning when an error and a steal allowed Tyler O'Neill to reach second. Matt Wieter lined a single to right-center field, but curiously O'Neill retreated to second on a ball neither outfielder could reach, and that kept him from scoring. He got to third, where he did have a courtside seat for the groundout and strikeout that ended the inning.
The Cardinals tied the game in the top of the seventh, and even then left the go-ahead and insurance run in scoring position. Paul Goldschmidt's 300th double of his career opened the inning, and he would score on a Brad Miller single for a 2-2 game _ all with no outs. The first three batters of the inning reached base for the Cardinals, and the next three did not as the rally unraveled once it got only far enough to tie the game. The Cardinals were four-for-14 with runners in scoring position at that point, and two of those hits did not produce a run.
The first game, which plunged into extra innings tied at zero, proved a good dress rehearsal for the opportunities the Cardinals would fail to exploit later.
Against St. Louis native and rookie relief sensation Devin Williams, the Cardinals got a single and a walk from the stingy righthander. Kolten Wong's one-out single was the first base hit off Williams' changeup this season, and the walk nudged Wong into scoring position for the middle of the Cardinals' order. A groundball and a called strike 3 later and Williams was out of the inning with the 0-0 score undisturbed, and the first of the Cardinals' misfires on choice opportunities was in the box score.
With doubleheader games set for seven innings, the eighth is technically extra innings, and that means, by rule, the inning starts with a runner on second base.
It was just the goose the Brewers needed after going scoreless for 21 consecutive innings.
But first, the Cardinals got the runner home, just not before popping up a bunt and taking a called strike 3 without the runner flinching from second. Tommy Edman lined a single to center for the game's first run, and a 1-0 lead for the Cardinals to protect in the bottom of the eighth. Without John Gant (groin) for a few days and Giovanny Gallegos (groin) for at least this road trip, the next reliever up for the save opportunity was Ryan Helsley. He walked a batter to put the winning run on base, and Ryan Braun rocketed a double to the center-field walk that could have scored both runners, but with one out Avisail Garcia stopped at third.
The Cardinals got a reprieve, and turned to Austin Gomber to relieve.
With first base open, Gomber tried to tease Jace Peterson into a strikeout. Didn't happen. From third base, Garcia urged the next batter, Keston Hiura to win the game. He got behind 1-2 in the count, and still Garcia was chatting him up. Hiura lined the sixth pitch he saw to left field for the walk-off sacrifice fly.
The late-game leak soiled Kim's superb return to the rotation. The lefty pitched seven scoreless innings to give the bullpen a needed break, and he did so with efficiency and, at times, ease. Kim ran his streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 24 with his career-high seven innings, and his ERA in five starts this season is 0.33. A Cardinals rookie hasn't had an ERA that low in his first five starts in at least a century, if not ever.
